Fall For You
by Gingerfloss
Summary: Thirty days and thirty ways of falling in love during twelve years working at Stark Industries when you're Tony Stark's Bodyguard and PA.
1. Day 1 - First Encounter

**Day 1 - First Encounter**

First meetings weren't romantic things. That was something that the two people that were facing each other from the opposite sides of the room had decided. Virginia Potts was Anthony Stark's PA of six months, and Harold Hogan had suddenly appeared on the scene after saving his life.

The man standing between them hadn't seemed to notice the looks that the others were giving each other, curious, interested, but almost resentful of the sight of another adult of the opposite sex to contend with. Tony Stark was a famous man, his power was known throughout the world and he was the kind of person you want to stay friends with.

Pepper held out her hand to him anyway on Tony's command, her expression lighting up on command when his gaze was on hers. Happy nodded and took it, his hand wrapped around her delicate fingers with his own forced smile.

This was going to be the most awkward relationship either of them had ever been in.

* * *

Hey guys, these are just going to a series of drabbles written for the Pepper/Happy ship, my beta mystmoon is going to illustrate them all for me (you can see this chapter's picture here mysteriousshamrock. deviantart art / Day-1-First-Encounter-376901291 remove the spaces)


	2. Day 2 - Addictions

Pepper Potts was addicted to her mobile phone. It was always in her hand, pressed to her ear or slipped inside her bra so that she could find it. Everyone knew that the woman needed it, she would never let anyone take it and any man crazy enough to stay the night with her would have to put up with it being on the bedside table.

The little box of technology contained her life, her alarms, her schedules and the phone numbers of everyone important to her and the company. Most people had another person that they couldn't live without, that they needed to keep them safe and warm and like they could always be rescued. Smiling to herself she sat down on the edge on the flight of steps outside the offices where Tony was, waiting for him to finally reappear.

From the other side of the car park she was being watched by the same man who apparently hated her, his head on his hand as he watched Pepper checking it for the tenth time that morning, running her fingers over the screen as she concentrated on the words running across it again.

Pepper was addicted to her phone, and the more time he spent with her, the more addicted he became to her.

* * *

Once again, the art for this chapter can be found here ( mysteriousshamrock. deviantart art / Day-2-Addictions-377092081 remove the spaces)


	3. Day 3 - Dressing Up

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Pepper asked, turning around to face him in the outfit she had been somehow almost forced into at the boss's suggestion: "Me attempting to help? I'm not even as pretty as these girls…" She muttered as she looked away from him, running a hand though her hair as she tried not to fall off the stilettos she was wobbling around the room on: "And why did he decide to have something themed around 'Playboy' for his birthday?"

That last question was more to herself than to him as she resisted the urge to look around at him: "And then he just somehow manages to talk us both into being staff yet again for the night. I think he's just trying to make all the staff wander around half naked until he causes an orgy."

Happy was just nodding along behind her, internally wishing he'd spent quite a lot more nights at the gym before accepting the boss's suggestion. Partially he'd done it to try and impress the woman wandering around behind him in the equivalent of a black swimming costume and bunny ears. Sighing to himself, he jammed the ears on his head before turning around to face her, looking like a stripper.

Pepper somehow managed to turn around at almost exactly the same moment, her cheeks burning as she saw his abs for the first time. He was a lot more that she'd actually been expecting but she burst out giggling anyway, covering her mouth with her hands as his own cheeks flushed, removing his gaze from her almost before he'd even had a proper look. Any kind of moment he'd been hoping for with her had just been ruined.

"So, do I get to cover you in baby oil yet?" She suggested when she'd finally managed to contain her giggles, shoving her own bunny ears into her hair, smiling at him as she held up the bottle.

Tonight could only get worse, Happy decided as she ran her hands over his chest, still smirking.

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((Art for this chapter can be found here mysteriousshamrock. deviantart art / Day-3-Dressing-up-377288036 remove the spaces))


	4. Day 4 - Birthday

He wasn't going to confess he'd left the parcel on her desk. Or that he'd spent weeks trying to work out what on earth you buy your boss's PA on her birthday. He hadn't quite dared to ask how old she was when he'd found out the date from one of Mr Stark's own year planners that were plastered across the walls of the lab one morning. The words had been so small he'd had to squint to find them on there.

It was almost as if she didn't want anyone to know it was her birthday, like she wanted to keep the entire thing a secret so that Tony wouldn't know.

Happy really couldn't figure out this woman. She wanted Tony's attention but the main way that she could get it she didn't make a fuss about. Weren't birthdays the one day a year you could ask your co-workers for affection and fuss without anyone questioning it?

Pepper was never going to make sense anyway so he might as well stop trying.

…..

The sight of the thing on Peppers desk made her blush, so obviously someone knew? Maybe they'd just noticed her actually sitting and eating cake earlier and not complaining about the calories. Or maybe it wasn't even meant for her?

Slipping the door closed behind her she crossed over to pick it up, smiling properly when she realized it actually had her name on it. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had actually had a birthday present from anyone. Running a manicured nail through the wrapping paper she couldn't help but smile, letting it fall away and giggling at the sight of the thing in her hands. Someone had bought her a plushie sheep for her birthday with a necklace wrapped around its neck.

Pepper laughed when she realized what it was, a tiny silver pepper pot and a heart on the same chain. Gently unlacing it from around the fluffy thing she slipped it around her neck, clasping it tight and smiling at the sight of her in the reflection in the photo frame before rescuing the woolly thing again and giving it a hug. There was only one person in Stark Industries who she knew had any relevance to sheep, and that was his own fault for having Irish heritage. Pressing the nose of it to her lips she sat down at her desk, pulling out her paperwork and balancing the little thing in front of her between the pen pot and the photograph frame that was still blank.

So there was someone in this company that cared about her.

((Art for this chapter is here mysteriousshamrock. deviantart art / Day-4-Birthday-377465435 remove the spaces))


	5. Day 5 - Unsophisticated

Pepper was complicated, sophisticated, stylish and beautiful, and he just wasn't.

So inviting her out one incredibly hot afternoon on a picnic seemed like a stupid idea.

But Pepper smiled and nodded when he mentioned it, looking up at him from the sofa she'd spent most of the morning laying on with the laptop balanced on her stomach and her head set clipped to her ear as she worked out another million pound finance deal.

"I haven't been on one since I was a kid…" She pointed out when he reappeared in her office an hour later with a blanket over one arm, slipping off her heels and pulling on a pair of sandals she seemed to have produced from nowhere, tying her hair up behind her ears: "They're apparently back in style according to this?" One handed, Pepper scooped up her copy of Vogue, throwing it over to him with a smile.

Happy glanced though the images, pulling a face slightly at the models poising in a perfect green field of daisies: "You know I wasn't meaning a designer picnic? I wasn't planning on this...They're all very fake."

Pepper looked up at him when she'd finished, bouncing slightly on her new shoes: "It's fine! I really don't think I could stand an afternoon of strawberries and champagne."

"You're allergic." Happy pointed out under his breath.

She turned around suddenly, realizing what he'd said to her with a squeak of surprise: "H-how do you know?!"

"I noticed?" He shrugged, gently taking her arm when she offered and leading her down the stairs.

Pepper was blushing about the same shade as a strawberry at his words, looking away at the stairs and following his lead. He'd realized something nobody else ever had.

His idea of a picnic was much more like the picnics she remembered as a child, lemonade and sandwiches and squeaking at the ants when they crawled up her legs as they sat on a blanket under a tree in the middle of nowhere. Happy had barely ever seen her relax this much, smiling at him as she demolished her third cupcake and lay back on the blankets, watching the sky.

"I think sometimes, I forget the sky even exists. I spend that long staring at the celling in Stark Industries." Pepper pointed out with a sigh, raising her arms above her head and holding her hands up in a frame, watching the clouds above her: "It's like living in a box where everything looks exactly the same…." They stayed silent for a while, gazing into each other's eyes "Thank you for inviting me."

"You're welcome…" He muttered, looking down at her with a smile. She looked beautiful, without the makeup and the get-up and the scowl that hid her feelings at work. Ginger hair in a halo around her head and smiling at him with crumbs on her nose.

Just for a moment, Virginia Potts was just a girl, and he was just a boy, and they were both in love for the very first time.

((Art can be found here mysteriousshamrock. deviantart art / Day-5-Unsophisticated-377733553 remove the spaces. This is gonna go on a bit of a break for a while cos we're both going on holiday, we'll continue it next week))


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